Smart technologies - sensors for improving Water Use Efficiency in Agriculture

National Workshop ClimaAdapt Project
Climate Change & Water : Improving WUE WALAMTARI, 13-14 Nov, 2014
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Smart technologies for improving Water Use Efficiency :
Initiatives under ClimaAdapt Project by WALAMTARI
Authors: Sai Bhaskar Reddy Nakka1
, Yella Reddy Kaluvai2
and Narayan Reddy Llati 3
Abstract
Climate change is having a profound effect on the environment. The consequences are
significant, especially, on the quality, availability and reliability of water resources. Irrigated
agriculture is facing a severe challenge of water use efficiency. For a long time there was a focus
on infrastructure, assuming that it automatically takes care of water management. This paper
argues that water use efficiency problems in irrigated agriculture exist at acquisition, distribution
and use at farm levels. Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM), which brought farmers into
centre stage of water management, was not so successful in improving water use efficiency and
water productivity. The solution may be found in accessing and making use of real time
information in water management decisions. The paper presents pilot initiative of WALAMTARI
under ClimaAdapt project, on use of smart technology for obtaining real time information and
establishing decision support system. Low cost sensors were developed and used in two WUAs
for collection of canal flow information and on-farm parameters. Technology options for data
acquisition, processing and decision support system are identified. The pilot also focuses on
second level issues such as procuring hardware, sensors and instruments, development of
software and establishing a decision support system. The lessons learnt from the pilot on
research, innovation and capacity building activities can together create enabling conditions for
change management through policy advocacy and scaling up.
Introduction
Climate change is having a profound effect on the environment, especially on the quality and
availability of water resources. It will have significant impact on agriculture, which is climate
sensitive sector. One of the main concerns in agriculture is the reliability and quality of water
supplies owing to erratic monsoons4
, climate variability, extreme weather events and rising
temperatures, which increases evaporation. Therefore, farmers, researchers and policy makers
are increasingly concerned about the potential impacts of climatechange on food security.
The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) on climate mitigation and adaptation
(2008) identified eight National Missions. For agriculture sector, national missions on agriculture
and water are important. The diverse nature of the country and the varied impacts of climate
1 Coordinator,ClimaAdapt Project, WALAMTARI
2 Director (Agriculture and Research,WALAMTARI
3 Director General,WALAMTARI
4 Erratic distribution or shortfall in water supply will increase water scarcity and enhance competition for water use for a wi de range
of economic, social and environmentalapplications.

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across ecosystems and sectors have necessitated devising specific strategies within each state
and institutional capacity thereof for developing and implementing adaptation plans. One
aspect that needs attention in this context is water use efficiency (WUE): ‘The National Water
Mission recommends for improvement of WUE by 20%‘.
The scientific community is using various climate and hydrology models for assessing impacts of
climate change on water and identifying adaptation strategies for increasing WUE. Some
important adaptation strategies include climate smart farming technologies, alternative
cropping systems, aligning cropping patterns with natural resource endowments, micro
irrigation and evaporation-transpiration reduction. For example in paddy cultivation under the
ClimaAdapt project the practices adopted are - System of Rice Intensification, Alternate Wetting
and Drying, Direct seeding of rice, and Machine transplantation), And a number of initiatives for
were being implemented to develop adaptation framework for Water and Agriculture sectors.
ClimaAdapt program, which is being implemented Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu
states of India, focuses on developing a basket of climate smart agriculture options for
improving adaptive capacity in agriculture and water sectors5
. This paper, based on initiatives
taken up under ClimaAdapt project by WALAMTARI, discusses on role of climate smart
technologies and institution development in increasing canal and on-farm WUE6
.
Water use efficiency
Almost 70% of all available freshwater is used for agriculture. The main challenges involved in
water management are low Irrigation efficiency (i.e., 35%) and water productivity (0.48 kg/m3
of
consumptive use). Water use efficiency problems exist at three levels: (i) water acquisition,
conveyance and delivery; (ii) water distribution among farmers; and (iii) the field system for water
application.
Irrigation and Command Area Developments (I&CAD) of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are
responsible for providing water to the crops through its system comprising Reservoirs, Canals
and other related infrastructure. In modern schemes, irrigation is provided as a service to users
that should be as efficient and convenient as possible. Modernization of irrigation schemes to
improve water use efficiency, comprising all aspects like engineering, land consolidation, system
management and farmer training was considered as priority areas7
. Operational complexity of
network of canals presents very long delays in the water transport8
. Inaccurate operation and
5 ClimaAdapt program (www.climaadapt.org) works in a continuum of science-stakeholder-policy makers. Other initiatives such
initiatives include Climawater, Climarice phase 1 and 2 funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway/The Royal Norwegian
Embassy, New Delhi.
6 WALAMTARI, IWMI, MSSRF, TNAU are the lead partners for implementing ClimaAdapt Project (2012-2016) in collaboration with
BIOFORSK-Norway. The project is supported by the Ministry of External Affairs, Norway / The Royal Norwegian Embassy.
WALAMTARI is implementing projectin AndhraPradesh andTelangana States.
7 Modernization of irrigation schemes to improve water use efficiency, comprising all aspects like engineering, land consolidation,
systemmanagement and farmertraining wasconsideredas priority areas. , IPTRID,Issue Paper,FAO,2003.
8 There are also problems of low storage per capita 36 % of utilizable resource (252 BCM out of 690 BCM). And 50% water is lost to
leakage& systeminefficiencies.

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management of irrigation canals often cause inequitable and inefficient water distribution. The
adjustment of hydraulic structures along irrigation canals causes unsteady flow in the canals at
the initiation of revised operation till it attains a new steady state.1
However, main efforts made
so far were mainly focused on reducing conveyance system losses9
.
Irrigation schemes in many parts of the world are known to be performing well below their full
potential. There is now wide recognition that deficiencies in management and related
institutional problems10
, rather than technology of irrigation, were the chief constraints of poor
performance of irrigation systems” (ICID, 1992). Many management and institutional problems
are self-inflicted wounds that could be minimized or eliminated with proper designs and
operational instructions (Burt, 1999). Both deficiencies in technology and management are the
causes of poor performance of irrigation. Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) is hinged
around developing cooperation with and involvement of farmers in operation, management,
and maintenance of the irrigation systems at secondary and tertiary levels through the “Water
User Associations” (WUAs)11
. A massive effort is needed to increase awareness of the
deficiencies of outdated designs and the potential of modern technologies for water
management and sustainable agriculture.
The biggest problems encountered in irrigation are watering too much and too frequently. A
range of environmental problems are linked to ineffective water use12
. The management of
irrigation systems should involve not only the design of a system and the general plans
for its operations, but also the continuous or periodic review of the factors that affect
crop production (climate, for example) throughout crop season. Irrigation technologies and
irrigation scheduling may be adapted for more-effective and rational use of limited supplies of
water.13
Appropriate irrigation scheduling should lead to improvement in yields and incomes, result in
water saving and, in turn increase the availability of water resources14
. It will also have a positive
impact on the quality of soils and groundwater. Recent advances in new
irrigation technologies can be used towards identifying irrigation scheduling strategies that
minimize water demand with minimal impacts on yields and yield quality. On the contrary,
delayed irrigation can lead to crop stress or applying too little water, can result in substantial
yield loss. Applying too much water will result in extra pumping costs, wasted water, and
9 These include evaporation from field channels and network, percolation, seepage and vegetative growth; and field appliaction
losses due to uneven surfaces and losses; evapoartion from fields (root zone moisture) and water logging during flood watering.
Therefore, conveyance of water through canals has to be carried out with minimum losses and with assurance that every farm
receives the stipulatedamount ofwaterat its correspondingfrequency.
10 Some important management-related and institutional deficiencies are conflicts between farmers and irrigation agencies, farmer
interference and lack of discipline, poor coordination between government agencies and poor recovery of investments and recovery
costs and poor farmer incentives.
11 Participatory Irrigation Management: Understanding the Role of Cooperative Culture Suresh A. Kulkarni, and Avinash C
TyagiInternational Commission on Irrigation and Drainage,
http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/water_cooperation_2013/pdf/ICID_Paper_Avinahs_Tyagi.pdf
12 Problems resulting from inappropriate water applications include water logging, leaching of agro- chemicals and consequent
groundwater pollution,as wellas soilandgroundwaterSalanization
13 ftp://ftp.fao.org/agl/aglw/docs/wr22e.pdf
14 The soil water balanceandrelated concepts andmeasurement techniques are essential for appropriateirrigation scheduling.

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increased risk for leaching agrichemicals below the rooting zone and possibly into the
groundwater.
Box 1: Irrigation Scheduling
Irrigation scheduling, an essential daily management practice for a farmer, is all about planning
when to irrigate and how much water to apply in order to maintain healthy plant growth during
crop season. Proper timing of irrigation water applications is a crucial decision for a farm
manager to: meet the water needs of the crop to prevent yield loss due to water stress;
maximize the irrigation water use efficiency resulting in beneficial use and conservation of the
local water resources; and minimize the leaching potential of nitrates and certain pesticides that
may impact the quality of the groundwater.15
There is growing urgency for more efficient utilization of water. At the farm level, there is a
need for a dependable water supply that is flexible in frequency, rate, and duration. It is
estimated that between 15% and 21% of water set aside for irrigation is lost, because of
inappropriate transport management policies. Only 16% of farmers are aware of irrigation
efficiency technologies. Therefore, effective irrigation is possible only through regular
monitoring of soil water and crop development conditions in the field; and forecasting of future
crop water needs, availability of water, and meteorological parameters like rainfall, evaporation,
etc. As part of improving water use efficiency, water management strategies should consider not
only resources but also demands.16
. It is also equally important to focus on design of the
irrigation system, operational rules, water allocation policies and building skills and capacities
required for farmer.
Box 2: Water use efficiency (WUE) and water productivity (WP)
These technologies can be used for improving Water use efficiency (WUE) and water
productivity (WP). WUE is understood in terms of extent of water utilized by a plant. For
example, if 10 mm of water is given to the plant and the plant used 8 mm through the root
water uptake followed by transpiration and 2 mm is lost by drainage below the root zone or via
bare soil evaporation from the surface, then the water use efficiency here is 80%. Water
productivity is expressed in terms of production or value of production per unit of water17
. And
it is also a ratio of output to input (e.g., 50kg grains per 1 m3 of water). The Agricultural Water
Use Efficiency Strategy describes the use and application of scientific processes to control
agricultural water delivery and achieve a beneficial outcome. It includes, 1) an estimation of net
water savings resulting from implementation of efficiency measures as expressed by the ratio of
15 http://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/water/irrigation-scheduling-checkbook-method/
16 (Nineteenth European Regional Conferenceof ICID, Prague,June2001)
17 Efficiency alone is not a sufficient indicator to define the performance of an irrigation system. A canal irrigation system may have
high conveyance efficiency with a minimum of seepage and operational losses. However, if water delivery is too rigid or unreliable,
there will be considerable waste further down at the farm level. A water productivity indicator provides a global indication of the
effectiveness of water conservation measures and of the quality of service provided to the users, as well as the farmuse of water and
other inputs.

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output to input; 2) resulting benefits; and 3) strategies to achieve efficiency and benefits.
Smart technologies for Water use efficiency
Good water management practices will increase yields, improve crop quality, conserve water,
save energy, decrease fertilizer requirements, and reduce non‐point source
pollution. Information is most critical to decide on exact amount of water required by a crop in
a given climatic condition and for effective design and management of irrigation system,
irrigation scheduling, etc18
. Water resource managers have been facing uncertainties resulting
from scarce data. The lack of hydrological records at the elementary catchment scale upstream
which is the key-scale to relate agricultural activities and impacts on water bodies is obvious.
Usual hydrometric equipment19
for measuring rainfall and runoff records, being expensive, is
scarce in space but with high time frequencies20
.For more balanced space over time hydrological
measurements, there is a need to develop alternative soft metrological approaches that permit
one to estimate water fluxes in catchments with an higher spatial sampling rate21
. In this context,
sensors are required as alternative.
Box 3: Sensor
Sensor or transducer is defined as a device that receives energy from one system and transmit it
to another, like physical variable into signal variable. Broadly defined, the sensor is a device
which is capable of being actuated by energizing input from one or more transmission media
and in turn generating a related signals to one or more transmission systems. It provides a
usable output in response to specified input measured, which may be physical or mechanical
quantity, property, or conditions. The energy transmitted by these systems may be electrical,
mechanical or acoustical. The nature of electrical output from the transducers depends on the
basic principle involved in the design. The output may be analog, digital or frequency
modulated.
18 Hydrological diagnoses are needed in order to choose the alternative land uses, cultivation practices and/or their spatial
arrangements (Pandeyet.al). The monitoring water level in a river, reservoir, canal and on -farm is important in the applications
related to agriculture,floodprevention,and fishingindustry,etc.
19 Gauge recorders and liminimetric sensors(hydrostatic pressure transmitters, air bubbling level transmitters) coupled with the
building ofweirsor calibratedchannels toestimatedischarges
20 With high-power consumption, invasive andrequire heavy maintenanceoperations
21 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3231374/

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Human supervision is limited for several hours and the accuracy is almost not perfect. Sensors
provide a better solution in accurate level measurements and automatic processing of water
levels (MuhdAsran Bin Abdullah). Future developments in precision agriculture include
autonomous farm vehicles, the use of imagery from UAVs, and telemetry — wirelessly
transmitting back to the office data on crop health, soil characteristics, and yield, as well as on
the status of the farm machines, which will allow farmers to improve planning for vehicle
servicing and maintenance (Swain).22
It is imperative that the use of smart irrigation controllers23
can be an important option for improving water use efficiency. Use of sensors would ensure
using right amount of water as appropriate to season, and climate and weather conditions. And
scheduling can avoid over watering and excessive runoff. There are many advantages with smart
technologies and complements conventional methods (see table below).
Table: Advantages with smart technologies
Particulars Conventional Irrigation Smart Irrigation Technologies
System  It is a supply based system with a fixed
schedule, where watering schedule
involves specific run-times and days with
the controller executes it schedule
regardless of the season or weather
conditions
 It is demand based system with a
focus on climate and weather
condition. Watering is done when
required and that too in right
amount of water.
Wastage  Large amount of underground or surface
water is wasted.
 Very little chance of water
22 https://www.sensorsandsystems.com/article/features/29160-precision-agriculture-sensors-drive-agricultural-efficiency.html
23 Many types of irrigation controllers have been developed for automatically controlling application of water to landscapes. With
respect to the simpler types of irrigation controllers, farmers, Municipalities and commercial owners of green areas typicall y set a
wateringschedulethat involves specificrun-times.

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wastage.
Productivity  Don’t consider the plant productivity
which is not based on efficient irrigation.

 Consider all the aspects of plants
related to water irrigation. It is
based on efficient irrigation.
Operational
convenience
 Existing systems are not reliable as in
these systems not giving importance to
operational aspects.
 Can be controlled manually or
automaticall`y without physical
presence at the system or field.
Using soil moisture measurements is one of the best and simplest ways to get feedback to help
make improved water management decisions.24
The soil monitors can be used to measure
percentage of water in the soil and through field calibration can estimate field moisture capacity.
This data can be accessed by several telemetry methods, including cell phones25
. The soil
probes send out an electronic signal that will call in every 15 minutes, if desired, though the
system can be set to any time interval default. Soil moisture, can be predicated by probing what
is going on in the soil; and these probes offer a good opportunity to give growers the
information they need to make good water management decisions. The fusion of multiple soil
sensors (combining the outputs of different sensors) will improve the accuracy of predictions of
various soil properties and permit their application over a greater range of soil physical and
chemical properties.26
The information will be used for a particular crop in a particular field.
Objectives
The main objective is to effectively and efficiently deliver services with usage of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs)27
in a minimum time. The pilot initiative whilst focusing on
capacity building of various stakeholders in automatic measurement and use of real time data
for decision making has research and innovation as integral elements. Other related objectives
are as follows:
● To apply smart technologies for monitoring water flowing through reservoir, water
releases at important points of canal network and on-farm parameters;
● To make use of the Information and Communication Technologies for information
gathering, processing, creation of central database systems and dissemination;
● To establish a Decision Support System (DSS) for data management, analysis and
dissemination to various stakeholders;
24 Practical Useof Soil Moisture SensorsforIrrigation Scheduling, R.Troy Peters,P.E.,Ph.D.
tm
ttp://deltafarmpress.com/management/moisture-sensors-help-increase-yield
26 https://www.wageningenur.nl/en/show/Sensor-data-fusion-for-measuring-soil-properties.h
27 Information and communications technology (I.C.T.) is often used as an extended synonym for information technology (IT), but isa
more specific term that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and
wireless signals), computers as well as necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage, and audio-visual systems, which enable
users to access,store,transmit,andmanipulate information.

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● To establish control systems for optimising utilisation of water with a focus on demand
based and equitable water management; and
● To disseminate reports required by stakeholders for water management
Methodology and Approach
The pilot focuses on creation of Canal Network Flow Monitoring System (CNFMS)28
under
Climate Cell, ClimaAdapt Project, at WALAMTARI. This included sensors and instrumentation lab
for development and installation of sensors, software development to process and analyse
information, decision support system, monitoring and control centre with dissemination facility.
i.e., A comprehensive system to monitor the canal systems and on-farm parameters using
sensors, Remote terminal Units (RTU), and Information and Communication Technology. It
enables canal network flow management through creation of stages / nodes in a canal network.
In other words, water levels at various nodes were recorded on daily basis apart from collecting
data from weather stations, reservoirs, and canal off take points on regular basis. The system will
facilitate receiving daily water availability, flows and release information; on-farm information at
designated points; weather parameters from established systems; and other environmental
parameters like (Air Temperature, Relative Humidity, Sunlight hours, etc.). The information thus
captured would be disseminated automatically to designated authorities in specified formats
through state of art Information and Communication Technologies, apart from getting stored in
a central database.
Initiatives on WUE under ClimaAdapt Project
Information collected using manual measurements is less accurate; and may not represent the
real time situation as can be available for further use and analysis long after its collection. There
is, thus, a need for developing an error free system with less human interference using mobile
technology and GIS. ClimaAdapt program has taken up a pilot initiative for automatic
measurement (by using low-cost sensors) of water flows in canals, soil moisture content on-
farm, ambient air temperature and relative humidity. It would help in rolling out services to
various stakeholders involved in the system such as farmers, members of farmers’ organizations,
Irrigation and agriculture engineers and scientists. For this purpose, Water User Associations
(WUAs) in Kondrapole village DC-4, Miryalaguda Cirlce, Nalgonda District, Telangana state and
Kavuru village, DC-21, Lingamguntla Circle, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh state were selected
Discussion and analysis
28 CNFMS is a web based software application for Canal Network Flow Monitoring System as part of ClimaAdapt to monitor canal
flow (static and dynamic) at specified guage points and automate guage readings by minimizing human intervention thus increasing
the accuracy and efficiency of monitoring system. It is an advanced technique to quantify water measurement at a particular
location in a canal,these measurementsare usedfor the operational managementsof pumpsand gates.

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Information is being collected, every day, on canal network flow operation. The conventional
approach of manually extracting patterns from data has become irrelevant with increase in
volume of data; and has necessitated more automated approaches.
Key components of the pilot initiative
The pilot activities are aimed at identification/ innovation of suitable technology options,
conduction of studies at field level, capacity building29
- awareness, on data collection,
processing, analysis, establishing monitoring and reporting system linked to decision support
system (See Table below). The envisaged system would have sensors, instruments, gauges and
devices for capturing real-time information on stage and water flows, and stage and water levels
all along the water distributory systems from source to the field. On farm systems for monitoring
the water use in the fields would give assessment on water usage by the primary stakeholders.
The temperature, relative humidity sensors and soil moisture sensors would provide information
for crop management and field level activities. In other words, pilot involves developing a
comprehensive system for information collection and use to help in water management
decisions.
Table : Components of pilot initiative at WALAMTARI
# Component Activity
1 Identifying
technology
options
Assessed existing sensors and instruments
Conducted market scan on sensors in regard to availability, suppliers,
price, etc.
2 Developing low
cost sensors
Sensors were developed using Arduino microcontroller for water levels
(ultrasonic), temperature, relativehumidity and soil moisture.
3 Capacity building Exposure visits conducted for the irrigation department officials on
existing systems and modern canal control systems.
 34 Engineers were given training on canal automation
 33 engineers were given training on software development for
Decision support systems.
 Organised exposure visit on Canal Automation to the senior
I&CAD engineers 9 nos (i.e., taken to Indira Gandhi Nahar Project
areas, Bikaner)
 4 engineers are working on sensors development
 12 student interns were engaged for various studies and
development of sensors
 Progressive farmers and line department officials were given
trainings 60 nos from both the project areas.
29 Capacity building activitiesare for I&CADdepartmentandline department personnel

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4 Canal Network
Flow Monitoring
System (CNFMS)
CNFMS is a web based system for providing water flow information in
the canal network to the concerned officials30
.
Identified nodes in canal network for installing sensors for monitoring
water flows
Collected secondary data on meteorology, soil, etc.
Conducted canal and on-farm water use efficiency studies
Water levels at various nodes were recorded on daily basis
Collected data from weather stations, reservoirs, and canal off take
points on regular basis
Farmers and organisations are involved in collecting data on on-farm
parameters.
Information on weather, surface and ground water, soil and crop aspects
for using down to distributaries, WUAs and TC levels
5 Control centre Control centre is being established31
at Climate Cell for centralised
processing of real time information received from the various locations
across the project area
Gauge stations are calibrated based on the Hydraulic Particulars of the
Canal
Information is fed into DSS through online data base
Information received is processed by system; and real time data is sent
to the users as SMS or graphic images for decisions
Graphs are generated to forecast flows and trends
6 Decision support
system (DSS)
DSS calibrates physically based, numerical models, to better understand
the water systems and forecast scenarios.
Software is developed and used to generate and disseminate
information
Reports are generated showing daily discharges at about 10 points per
project area (Miryalaguda and Narsaraopeta) in the canal network.
Information (through visuals, SMS alerts, emails, etc) is sent to
designated officers, WUAs, and framers.
Information is used for decision making or responding to emergency
situation; operational management of water supply; operation of gates;
and satisfying agreements with neighbouring circles.
7 Thematic studies Assessed information systems and modern canal control systems
Conducted canal and on farm water use efficiency studies.
Canal flow data will be used to assess the conveyance losses between
given points; and planning thematic studies (e.g., Changing of cropping
pattern, Crop yield assessment, Water usage efficiency)
8 Control system Canal control or hydraulic regulation describes those steps necessary to
30 The information makes easy to monitor the release of water to canals and thereby schedule the release of water. In other words,
it helps in release of sufficient amount of water at correct place in correct time. This system transforms the way irrigation districts
manage water,administer operations and serve theircustomers.
31 It will be located at WALAMTARI as part of Climate Cell; and would be part of the I&CAD of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh
Governments in future.

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ensure the required pool water level and flow along the canal32
. Canal
control is achieved by manipulation of the variables to obtain the
desired canal system conditions. The canal control methods include,
algorithms with the necessary interlinked operational steps focusing on
PID controller algorithm33
.
Note: The Coordinator, ClimaAdapt Project, WALAMTARI is mentoring the teams for
development of sensors and Decision Support Systems integrating all the components with the
active support of Director General, WALAMTARI and Director (A&R), WALAMTARI and Project
Partners.
Ultrasonic sensors for water level Temperature and relative humidity sensor
Soil Moisture sensor Arduino Uno Microcontroller
32 The conditions are controlled by adjusting the volume of water pumped into the canal, adjusting the positions of check gates, and
by regulating flow through the delivery turnouts. Canal conditions depend upon the adjustment of the mismatch between the
supply and the demand. Some variables are easily adjusted while others are more complicated or cannot be adjusted. The variables
easily adjusted are the gate positions, number of pumps supplying or diverting water, flow regulation of the pumps, and the
diversion of water into and out of the canal system. Other variables such as weed growth, debris, siphons, and the geometry o f the
canal cannot bereadily controlled.
33 Automaticcontrol andcontrollers,Dr. R N Sankhua,Director
National Water Academy, Pune, r_sankhua@yahoo.com

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GSM BOARD FOR SENDING SMS 12V BATTERY
TWEET sensor for water level with GSM CLICK sensor for soil moisture with GSM
Institutional arrangement: The overseeing authority is the Director General- WALAMTARI and
the Director (Agriculture and Research). The Coordinator, ClimaAdapt Project, WALAMTARI is
responsible for coordination of works through the support of respective teams in
implementation of field activities and also coordinates all the teams in the system. As part of
planning institutional arrangements, the stakeholder analysis was carried to identify key
stakeholders and interest groups at WUA level. At project areas the initiative is implemented
through the respective Irrigation departments, headed by the Superintendent Engineer (SE), and
comprising of project-level functionaries such as the Engineers who monitor water release to
WUA. TC members and farmers have also been involved (Chart 1). The line departments like
Ground Water Department and agriculture department are also involved.
Strategic interventions: The pilot has initiated strategic actions for developing total system
(see table below). These actions have led to test run and/or put in place sub-parts (individual
parts) of envisaged system; and created enabling conditions for graduation to next level.

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Table: Strategic interventions
#
Parameter Number
1. Proto types developed 30
2. Micro processors / Controllers 30
3. Baseline data collected (no. of WUAs) 2
4. No of trainings organised 10
5. No. of exposure visits organised 2
6. No. of people trained 200
7. Sensors installed 10
8. Software Developed
Assessing sensors and instruments: Historically, wireless sensor networks have mainly
addressed military applications. However, in recent years, many civilian applications, such as
managing inventory, monitoring product quality and monitoring disaster zones have emerged.
The sensor is more reliable and cost effective when compare with manual operations34
. The
sensor has to be physically compatible with its intended applications (box 4); and its selection
depends on field (physical35
) condition, accuracy of operation, technical issues36
, application
constraints37
and availability of budget.
Box 4: Eight specification for selection
The specifications that should be considered while selecting a sensor.
1. Operating range: Chosen to maintain range requirements and good resolution.
2. Sensitivity: Chosen to allow sufficient output.
3. Frequency response and resonant frequency: Flat over the entire desired range.
4. Environment compatibility: Temperature range, corrosive fluids, pressure, shocks,
interaction, size and mounting restrictions.
5. Minimum sensitivity: To expected stimulus, other than measured.
6. Accuracy: Repeatability and calibration errors as well as errors expected due to
sensitivity to other stimuli.
7. Usage and ruggedness: Ruggedness, both of mechanical and electrical intensities
34 Apart from labor cost savings, sensors aid in water management optimization, better soil nutrition, farming automation, and
statisticaldatadissemination.
35 State (liquid, solid or slurry),temperature, pressure or vacuum, chemistry, dielectric constant of medium, density or specific gravity
of medium, agitation, acoustical or electricalnoise, vibration,mechanicalshock,tank or bin size and shape
36 Technical issuesare powerconsumption,radio propagation models,routingprotocols,sensors etc.
37 price, accuracy, appearance, response rate, ease of calibration or programming, physical size and mounting of the instrument,
monitoring orcontrol ofcontinuous ordiscrete(point)levels

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versus size and weight.
8. Electrical parameters: Length and type of cable required, signal to noise ratio when
combined with amplifiers, and frequency response limitations.
Developing and Installation of sensors: The available sensors were tested to reach a
conclusion about the right trade-off of complexity and cost against usability and expected
benefits. The pilot has developed two proto types: (i) TWEET for water level, temperature and
relative humidity; and (ii) CLICK for soil moisture, temperature and relative humidity. The system
is based upon Arduino microcontroller platform,38
an open-source electronics prototyping
board. Arduino development environment, is an open source language and development tool39
.
The code is simple and does not need support of an underlying operating system. (see picture
below)
The assembled prototype encases Arduino Uno board, GSM shield, A 9V / 12V battery which
powers the system, and the LCD screen.
38 It features an Atmel AVR 8-bit micro-controller (ATmega328P) and a number of easily accessible digital and analog I/O pins. The
board provides 14 digital input/output pins, 6 of which can be used as PWM outputs, and 6 analog input pins. It can be
programmed and powered through a USB port and power can also be provided through a DC-in jack. See also
http://www.arduino.cc
39 http://processing.org

15
The cost of production was 5 to 10 times lower
than average market price. These two proto
types are so simple that under the project
government school children (6th
to 9th
class) are
given training on assembling the sensors for data
collection from pilot field areas. The sensors were
placed at in the project areas on the canals and
on-farm in the farmer’s fields. Sensor was located
where it is safe and convenient to install and
access information. Other aspects considered
while installing are safety of sensors.
Apart from the Arduino Uno board, used the
following parts in sensor development. In
particular, initial requirements regarding
hardware and software can be listed as follows:
easy and direct prototyping, user-friendly
programming environment, open source
software, hands-on debugging abilities, low
power demands, simple product packaging, low
manufacturing costs and as much fault tolerance
as possible.
Capacity building: Engineers were trained on
canal automation and software development.
The irrigation department officials were taken on
exposure visit on modern canal control systems.
In addition, exposure visit was also organized to
Indira Gandhi Nahar Project areas, Bikaner, for
senior engineers in order to provide practical
insights on Canal Automation. Other
stakeholders trained were farmers and children.
Ongoing initiatives
Canal and on-farm water use efficiency studies
Information is being collected on weather, water
levels at different points, surface and ground water, soil and crop aspects for using down to
distributaries, WUAs and farmer level. It may be noted that data were collected from weather
stations, reservoirs, and canal off take points on regular basis. In addition, soil monitors were
installed to measure percentage of moisture in the soil; and was accessed through GSM
modules.
Next steps in pilot
Picture A tweet sensor installed in the field
for measuring water - level and flow, soil
moisture, temperature and relative humidity
with solar power, Kondrapole village,
Miryalaguda area, Nalgonda, Telangana

16
The pilot will need to graduate from information collection to data processing and decision
support system. Toward this end, different aspects were studied and identified hardware and
software modules for establishing a decision support system; and to bring pilot initiatives to a
logical conclusion and take up initiatives for scaling up. (See Table below)
Table : Opted systems
# Component Application Identified options
1 Hardware /
Instruments
Information collection
sensors / instruments
Water level Ultrasonic sensor, For water flows
and quantity Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler,
Sensors for soil moisture, Temperature, relative
humidity, solar radiation
Cameras for collecting photos and videos
Information processing
and receivers
Computers, Servers, Laptops, Tablets, Smart
Phones
Sensors development
and maintenance
Sensors and instrumentation lab
Decision support system Control centre
Communication or
information transfer
systems
Satellite communication, Radio Frequency,
telephone, cell phone
Wifi, blue tooth, GSM and data logger
Control System Automation, Semi-automation and manual
systems
2 SOFTWARE CNFMS – Java, SCADA, PID etc., softwares
GIS / Remote sensing,
Big data,
Information visualization
Besides hardware and software systems, the following operational systems are also established.
Software development: Software modules are developed for processing information, presenting
it in graphical format. From the control centre SMS alerts and reports would be sent to the
primary stakeholders, Operation and Maintenance staff and decision makers at frequent
intervals. All the real time data would be made available through website from the Central
Control centre at WALAMTARI40
. Information collected and made available on irrigation systems
is the big data, managing and analysis requires advanced systems. The data input formats, data
table structure and web page are designed for collection of both static and dynamic data related
to canals and WUAs.
Information visualization: It is a process of creating information graphics by involving
multidisciplinary team. Information graphics are graphical representation
of information, data or knowledge intended to present complex information quickly and clearly.
40 There will datastorage security and can be usedby multiple users simultaneously

17
They can improve cognition by utilizing graphics to enhance the human visual system’s ability to
see patterns and trends. The data collected from various sources is processed and useful and
relevant data is chosen; and graphical reports are generated depicting the spatial and temporal
variation of water flows under an irrigation project. The visual information is sent to different
users i.e., from farmer to the chief engineer for making make decisions41
.
Visual data capturing: The images are captured through cameras in the form of photos and
videos. Apart from the data collection, the photos and videos would be useful for continuous
visual monitoring of the field situation. The images can also be analyzed through software for
calculating water levels. Images can also be used for crop coverage too. Remote sensing
imageries are useful for depicting current status of water flow in the canals.
Data communication: Standard options like satellite (VSAT), telephone and cell phone are used
for connectivity of the systems and data flow configuration. Wifi, blue tooth allows an
alternative communication path, while a MicroSD could enhance the storage size for vast data
archiving.
GSM: GSM digital cellular network is used for transmission of SMS messages from sensors to the
control centre. It can be controlled through UART and simple AT commands.
Conclusions
Water distribution mechanism tends to have low water productivity and water use efficiency.
Irrigation managers are constrained by the lack of real time information. The conventional data
acquisition is oriented more towards archival than operational usage. Inadequacy and non-
reliability of in-situ observations also restrict the management to practice an adoptive system.
The pilot was implemented in recognition of the need for real time information on various
aspects, which control and influence the water delivery and utilization regimes. It is assumed
that real time data would help water mangers/users in tracking transmission/conveyance losses;
and taking decisions for improving water use efficiency, instantly.
Technologies can be used innovatively by water authorities to obtain information in real time
about water use, to track and forecast the water level in reservoirs and flows in rivers.
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) provide an opportunity for water
stakeholders to obtain information in near real time about physical and environmental variables
such as water level, water flows, soil moisture levels, temperature, relative humidity and rainfall.
The pilot initiative has applied ICTs for automation of information collection and processing, and
linking it to a decision support system. In terms of technology, low cost sensors were adopted
and test-run for monitoring water flows in two project areas, in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh
41 The information captured by the sensors has to be processed and this processed information should reach each and every person
concerned with the canal water. The persons include water consumers; farmers at the end level and people who release canal water
to the farmer’s fields, called lascar and finally the people who decide when to release the water into the canal. The second category
consists of personsat differentlevels.

18
states. In addition, hardware and software options were identified for data communication,
processing and information visualization. The pilot in next stage will focus on the operational
systems related to information processing, dissemination systems and decision support systems.
It is envisaged that a control centre will oversee water management by making use of
information.
The capacities of engineers, farmers and other stakeholders were built, thus making available
human capability and support system required for implementing this pilot initiative. Traditional
system may pose challenges in implementing this system. The following are precondition for
implementing pilot:
 Preventing water wastage resulted from direct pipe sluices operating without shutters.
 Repairing of damaged sluices and shutters, and protecting them from tampering by farmers
 Suitable shutters to be provided for operation of sluices and to be maintained regularly with
watch and ward for avoiding damages.
 Exploring possibility of providing water meters at field level for supply of water as per actual
requirements
 Involving farmers in irrigation management to ensure judicious use and equitable
distribution by building on traditional systems like WARABANDI system
 Involving the farmers and Water User Associations in measuring water flows and planning
water releases at canal and reservoir level.
 Optimizing operation and maintenance through regulation and prevention of overtopping.
 Adopting rotational water supply as irrigation scheduling
 Climatic crop water requirement to be factored in operation plan of irrigation schedules
The efforts are also needed to bring changes in farming practices to complement technology in
achieving water use efficiency. For example, practices like micro-irrigation, and in rice cultivation
- Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD), Machine transplantation, System of Rice Intensification
(SRI), direct seeding, and crop rotation as well as ID crops may be promoted. There should also
be extension with a focus on creating awareness among the farmers about efficient use of water
as per crop requirement. The real time information to all the stakeholders is useful in :
 Adopting the irrigation scheduling water usage can be minimized
 Generating crop water demand and supply graphs and make use of the same while releasing
water to canals.
 Predicting occurrence of rainfall in the future by using rainfall probability analysis
 Adoption of visualization techniques for quick decision making and supervision of gates,
meters and other field devices.
 Water delivery would be equitable and also economical
References

19
Armand Crabit, François Colin, Jean Stéphane Bailly, Hervé Ayroles, and François Garnier, 2011,
Sensors Soft Water Level Sensors for Characterizing the Hydrological Behaviour of Agricultural
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Burt, C., 1999. Current Canal Modernization from an International Perspective. Proceedings from
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Doorenbos and W.O. Pruitt , 1977, Crop water requirements (revised). Irrigation and Drainage
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Plusquellec, H. & Burt, C., 2000. Discussion of a paper by P. Kirpich; Problems of Irrigation in
Developing Countries. ASCE Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, May-June 2000.
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Systems: Emerging Modernisation Procedures and design Standards. FAO, Bangkok, Thailand.
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20
Plusquellec, H., Burt, C. & Wolter, H., 1994. Water Control in Irrigation Systems. World Bank
Technical Paper no 242. May 1994.
Shah, M. & Strong, M., 2000. Food in the 21st Century: From Science to Sustainable Agriculture.
CGIAR Secretariat, World Bank.
Vidal A., Comeau A., Plusquellec H. & Gadelle F., 2001. Case studies on water conservation in the
Mediterranean region. IPTRID/FAO: Knowledge Synthesis Report no 4. International Programme
for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage (IPTRID), FAO, Rome, Italy, April 2001. 60
pp.
Water Use Efficiency Studies of NSP by Irrigation and Command Area Development Department
of Govt. of Andhra Pradesh
World Water Commission, 2000. A Water Secure World. Vision for Water, Life, and the
Environment. Vision Commission Report. World Water Commission, Marseille, 2000. 83 pp.

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